Germany is no longer the European leader in the number of asylum applications

In Germany, the number of asylum applications submitted fell in the first half of 2025, according to a report by the European Union Asylum Agency (AUEA), which was obtained by "Welt am Sonntag". Germany is no longer the European "asylum leader". Spain is the leader in the EU, followed by France.

From January 1 to June 30, 65,495 asylum applications were recorded in Germany, which means that there were 43 percent fewer than in the first half of last year. As a result, Germany is no longer the European leader in asylum applications, it is third in the EU.

In the first six months of 2025, the largest number of applications were submitted in Spain (76,020) and France (75,428). Italy is right behind Germany (62,534).

The decrease applies to the entire EU and, together with it , Switzerland and Norway. In the first two quarters of 2025, there were 23% fewer applications in the area counted in this way compared to the same period in the previous year (slightly over 388 thousand).

Across the EU, the largest number of asylum seekers came from Venezuela . In Germany, the leading figures are people with passports from Afghanistan (22%), Syria (20%) and Turkey (11%).

The data cited by "Welt am Sonntag" come from a confidential - as the newspaper claims - AUEA report, dated July 3.

Since October 2023, Germany has been carrying out border controls with Poland, officially to stop illegal migration. Tighter controls have resulted in an increased number of migrants being returned to Poland who attempt to cross the border despite not meeting the entry and residence conditions in Germany. On May 8, two days after Friedrich Merz was sworn in as chancellor, changes were made to the practice of applying asylum law in Germany. (PAP)

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